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HT Upgrade: Wet Bar, AT Screen, Fireplace.


WakeJunkie

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I honestly am nervous about it being to dark....We shall see.

Although it would be a pain to swap to White over Gray, it can be done if you are absolutely not satisfied with the quality of the image. Most have suggested in the AVS forum if you have a bright projector, the Gray over White is a great combo. Colors will be richer, better contrast, deeper black levels. Like you said, you will just have to wait and see.

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Less typing, more working. LOL Hope we can watch a movie when we are visiting in two weeks. emotion-2.gif

I'm officially jealous of your room. emotion-5.gif I still can envision one day down the road, you upgrading to the RF-7 / RC-7 or RF-83 / RC-64. You know I'm looking out for another sweet deal on a set for you.

 

I really like the idea of the RF7ii's in Cherry. Simply Elegant!

With all the woodwork in my room I feel like this would look fantastic in there.

I love how the RF7 2's have the solid wood front.

RF7.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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I honestly am nervous about it being to dark....We shall see.

The fears are over! I love my Epson 8350 on a silver screen.
I finally set the projector and PS3 on the bar and did a test run. It was a bit dark with the settings from my 100" Da-lite (no surprise).
I turned off Econo Mode and it looked great with no further adjustments. I will go through the calibration disk once I have audio hooked up.

DEEP BLACKS, great contrast, bright crisp whites. It looks like a 130" LCD...
I am impressed.

My test movie was Narnia, Prince Caspian. Why? because it was the first wide screen movie I came across in the blu-ray rack.
I started things up, PS3 menu 16:9, previews 16:9, film 2.4:1....press of a button and the top masking aligned perfectly (within 1/8")!
The bottom mask (bare aluminum bar currently) sat about 1" to low which is not a surprise since it is set for a 2.35:1 format.
I am sure other adjustments will be needed, but overall I am very pleased.
Triple velvet from Jo-Ann's did a great job, it is as black as black could possibly be and seemed to absorb all stray light.

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I built this Saturday from solid Red Oak. Only the backing is ply.

I know it won't matter much, but with the exception of the backing it all came from the same 100+ year old Oak that was uprooted in a storm.

It is just over 11' long, 11.5" deep inside. and will go under the screen once I get the finish on it complete. The sides extend an extra 3" so the cabinet will have a pocket behind it for the electric masking to drop behind when not in use.

Building raised panel doors with hidden hinges for it as well. This will be used mostly as a blanket cabinet with the far right cabinet having power outlets for Xbox 360/PS3 controller chargers.

IMG_6455.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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Built a custom return air box and patched the wall back up after installing it.

I am making custom walnut faceplates for the rack right below it....there is no way I am installing a white metal air vent right above it.

I will be building one out of wood. Instead of the filter laying flat on the wall like most, I built a slot to slide the filter in so I can make the opening the same width as the rack for asthetics. The giant doggy door on the left is where the sub will sit.

IMG_6469.jpg

IMG_6470.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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I really like the idea of the RF7ii's in Cherry. Simply Elegant!
With all the woodwork in my room I feel like this would look fantastic in there.
I love how the RF7 2's have the solid wood front.

I concur! They sound as good (if not better) as they look. [8][8][8]

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I built this Saturday from solid Red Oak. Only the backing is ply.

I know it won't matter much, but with the exception of the backing it all came from the same 100+ year old Oak that was uprooted in a storm.

It is just over 11' long, 11.5" deep inside. and will go under the screen once I get the finish on it complete. The sides extend an extra 3" so the cabinet will have a pocket behind it for the electric masking to drop behind when not in use.

Building raised panel doors with hidden hinges for it as well. This will be used mostly as a blanket cabinet with the far right cabinet having power outlets for Xbox 360/PS3 controller chargers.

IMG_6455.jpg

 

That's awesome Wake

Edited by Youthman
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Top and bottom mask are complete, tested, and working beautifully. The remote works fine if you point it right at the reciever, I am hoping the Harmony One I just ordered is a little more forgiving on where you point it. The reciever will be relocated into the rack with the rest of the gear so you point the remote the same direction for everything in the room.

IMG_6477.jpg

The masking will drop behind the cabinet when open.

IMG_6478.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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Picked up this Lutron Spacer system off Ebay and a Harmony One remote today.

4 programable Scenes and 4 lighting zones. I currently have 3 zones, not counting the pool table.

Maybe some accent lighting around the bottom of the bar so you can see to walk around when the movie is going???

I am sure I will come up with something.

Best Buy has the Harmony PS3 adapter in stock for the same price as Ebay so I will pick that up today.

lutron.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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Detail pics of the masking guides.

I wrapped the velvet around the aluminum guide bar and attached with 3M high strenght spray adhesive.

It does a good job of letting it slide almost silent.

IMG_6480.jpg

IMG_6481.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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So it appears that as the top roller unfolds the top mask, it pulls up the bottom mask. Very slick DIY masking system. Looks fantastic.

I have the Lutron Maestro (only 1 scene) and I can say for $40, it really ads to the "Theater" experience. I have it set to dim the lights over 20 seconds so it is a very nice slow fade, just like you get at the movies.

To me, it's those subtle things that really add the finishing touches to the HT experience.

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Trying to match the color of the existing Birch wood walls stained with Red Mahogany was not easy.

Oak and Birch stain NOTHING alike.

To get the color to match: (none of these are Gel Stains)

1. Pretreat with oil based wood conditioner

2. Stain with a mixture of 1 part Rustolium Brand Cabernet stain and 3 parts Minwax Red Mahogany.

3. After that dries for a day stain again over the top with Minwax Dark Walnut.

Needless to say that recipe took a little time to perfect.

A couple coats of varnish and attach the backing and it is ready to move into the room.

Raised panel doors will come soon.

IMG_6483.jpg

Edited by WakeJunkie
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So it appears that as the top roller unfolds the top mask, it pulls up the bottom mask. Very slick DIY masking system. Looks fantastic.

Yes, the top bar is a a roller that roles up the bottom and rolls down the top and vise-versa. They are simply wound different directions on the tube.

I have the Lutron Maestro (only 1 scene) and I can say for $40, it really ads to the "Theater" experience. I have it set to dim the lights over 20 seconds so it is a very nice slow fade, just like you get at the movies.

To me, it's those subtle things that really add the finishing touches to the HT experience.

I agree completly. I just have to big a room for a single dimmer and the mastro can't have two switches in the same room working independently off IR.
That is why I wanted the spacer system. I will have a scene for:

1:Eating at the bar watching a move.
2:Dark movie with possible accent (walk around) lights.
3:Low lights for Football parties, large group gaming and when I hit pause/stop during a movie.
4:Well lit, but not full bright.

The two master control switches apear to have full on, full off, and 4 scenes. I hope I have that right. Good detailed documentation on that system is a little hard to come by.

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Wake, thank you for the updates as you go! The finished product is going to be just epic! I am excited to see how it turns out! Very nice work!

Thanks, It seems like it is taking forever, but after looking back I started with the remodel exactly a month ago yesterday. I was traveling two of those weekends.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I just returned last night from visiting Wake and his family. I took 6 of my graduating seniors and my family of 6 for the weekend. We had a blast wakeboarding, tubing, cliff jumping and hanging out at Little River Canyon. It's always a joy to hang out with a friend that has over the years, become my brother.

I just wanted to comment how amazing his front wall looks in person. First off, the 130" screen is absolutely HUGE and looks fantastic in his room! The stone work and wood work on the front wall adds a very elegant touch to his HT. With the center directly behind the AT screen, the dialog is perfectly anchored to the screen. He and I were both concerned that the Silver over White Spandex might reduce the brightness too much but with his new Epson, brightness was not a problem at all. I know firsthand that when I do decide to move to an AT screen, I'll be using the Spandex as well. The masking system....man what a sweet, sweet touch to the HT experience. It's just cool when the movie starts, the masking moves into place. The "Gray" bars become jet black and totally disappear. The masking makes you think that the screen is exactly the size of the image.

Our stay was only for 2 days so we only were able to demo a few scenes from The Art of Flight. The colors were drop dead georgeous! Very vivid, rich and detailed. I would also like to say that I was THOROUGHLY impressed with the sound from the RF-3ii's. I really don't remember them sounding that great but they did. I guess as long as you have a sub that can handle the lower end, the RF-3ii's definitely have great potential for HT. He had not had a chance to calibrate his speakers so the sub was super hot (we backed it down by ear). Once we did that, man, what a treat.

Shaun, I just wanted to say publicly that your HT is absolutely amazing. It's pretty awesome to think you saw my HT in person and said, "I can build one of these at my house" and then you did! You are incredibly talented and have craftsman skills that I only dream of having. You have built with your own hands a HT that anyone would be absolutely thrilled to have in their home.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit together and look forward to the next visit to see the rest of the details finished and hopefully.....by then I will have found a great deal on an RC-7 for you and I'll be bringing it with me. [;)]

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